1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to occupant protection vehicle seats. More specifically, the invention is a vehicle seat apparatus which acts independently of the monolithic mass of the vehicle when the vehicle is involved in frontal, rear end and lateral collisions or sudden changes in velocity due to hard braking or acceleration.
2. Description of Related Art
There are many patents in the prior art which are drawn to vehicle seats for absorbing different types of forces, shocks, and vibrations commonly encountered in vehicular collisions.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. Re. 35,572 issued on Jul. 29, 1997 to Lloyd et al. discloses a seat assembly for a motor vehicle that includes an air suspension system for isolating the occupant of the seat from shock, vibration, and inertial forces directed along both vertical and horizontal axes. A base plate is mounted to the floor of the vehicle and supports first and second pairs of sleeve bearings on opposed sides of a box-like housing. The housing is attached to a pair of guide rods which cooperate with the sleeve bearings to provide fore and aft movement of the housing. Springs operating in cooperation with a first horizontally disposed air bag serves to dampen out inertial forces on the vehicle seat. The seat itself is supported atop a vertically oriented air spring and a plurality of hydraulic vibration dampeners that tend to cushion vertically directed forces acting upon the seat and its occupant.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,227,717 issued on Jan. 7, 1941 to Jones relates to structure for mounting a chair to the body of an airplane. The structure is designed to move the chair forwardly and upwardly in the event of a collision, whereby the person occupying the chair will be tossed in a curved path and thus relieved substantially from shock caused by the collision forces.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,081,059 issued on Mar. 12, 1963 to Hastings et al. Is drawn to a seat base having an inverted cone secured to the underside of the seat. The front legs of the seat are pivotally mounted to the floor of the vehicle. A single rear leg telescopes against the action of a spring.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,914, issued on Jun. 30, 1981 to Howleg et al., discloses an arresting device in a longitudinally adjustable guide rail assembly for motor vehicle seats. The device includes a shaft rotatably supported in a stationary bearing plate and driven by a stationary electromotor. The driving pinion of the electro-motor is in mesh with an intermediate gear which is supported for free rotation on the shaft. A coupling disk is supported for joint rotation on the shaft and for an axial displacement between the bearing plate and the face of an intermediate gear.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,179, issued on Mar. 8, 1994 to Forget, discloses a fixed plate supporting a vehicle seat that is secured to longitudinal adjusting slides. The fixed plate supports a rotary intermediate plate via a first ball bearing and a cover rigidly connected to the fixed plate and supported at the rotary intermediate plate via a second ball bearing. The assembly is centered on the two ball bearings.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,204, issued on Sep. 6, 1994 to Liu, discloses a safe driver seat unit that includes a seat supported on two rails by four ball bearings mounted in the seat legs, and a arrangement wherein an electromagnetic controller locks the seat in a normal position. In a collision, sensors will turn on power to unlock the seat so that springs may move the seat backwardly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,372, issued on Feb. 25, 1997 to Al-Abdullateef, discloses an automotive safety seat that reduces g-loads imparted to an occupant during a collision by absorbing some of the energy of impact. Kinetic energy is converted to potential energy with the elevation of the seat and its occupant and the compression of springs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,591, issued on Apr. 28, 1998 to Tame, discloses a vehicle seat which includes a seat cushion assembly and a hydraulic actuator. A first mounting assembly is constructed and arranged to mount the seat cushion assembly on a vehicle floor, and a second mounting assembly is provided which is constructed and arranged to mount a seat back cushion assembly on the seat cushion assembly.
German Patent No. 2,112,443, published Sep. 23, 1971, discloses a vehicle passenger safety system which has the seat belt anchorages and/or the seating rear anchorage points attached through energy absorbing components so that each passenger describes a predetermined path within the compartment with an increasing braking force until suitable padding brings the passenger to a safe stop.
German Patent No. 2,060,951, published Jun. 22, 1972, discloses a car seat that is mounted on a spring loaded support to absorb impact forces. The support is braced by either mechanical springs or hydraulic shock absorbers, and converts impact forces into a smooth recoil to protect the occupants in the event of a collision.
Great Britain Patent No. 2,087,226A, published May 26, 1982, discloses a shock absorbing seat that is formed by two connected portions. The shorter rear portion is a flat metal sheet bent upwardly at the back and riveted to the rear cross-member of a tubular support frame. The front portion includes a metal sheet which is xe2x80x9cwaistedxe2x80x9d in plan view and curved upwardly from the rear in side elevation to a smoothly curved peak from which it is bent downwardly as a flat vertical panel. The panel is riveted along its lower edge to the front cross-member of the support frame.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to disclose a multi-function seat which acts independently of the monolithic mass of the vehicle when frontal, rear end and lateral collisions occurs or becomes inevitable as will subsequently be described and claimed in the instant invention.
A multi-function vehicle seat reduces the impulse peak and decreases the transfer of acceleration-deceleration forces to all regions of the occupants body during frontal, as well as rear-end and lateral collisions in high and low speed impacts. The interlock seat support assembly with the vehicle floor pan separates the seat from the monolithic mass of the vehicle. In response to a sudden hard change in the velocity of the vehicle, a movable base plate dissipates forces of collision and reduces the transfer of crash energy to the seat assembly and occupant. The seat adopts a pulley system activated and controlled electronically or manually when collision occurs or becomes inevitable. A pulley system balances the seat cushion, the seat back and the headrest to the alteration occupant kinematics to protect occupants from the first, the second and the third collision.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a multi-function vehicle seat apparatus including a pulley system to controlled position of the deformable seat cushion, the seat back cushion and the headrest to minimize the acceleration and deflection in all regions of the occupant""s body in a variety of collision scenario to prevent injury to occupants from the first, the second and the third collisions.
It is another object of the invention to provide a multi-function vehicle seat including a pulley system activated electronically by avoidance system or manually by the driver when collision becomes inevitable to offer occupant the safest position before impact.
It is another object of the invention to provide a multi-function vehicle seat including a plurality of stabilizers interlock attached to the vehicle floor pan to separate the seat assembly from the monolithic mass of the vehicle.
It is another object of the invention to provide a multi-function vehicle seat including an anti-friction ball which rests upon the base plate or floor pan involved to rotation over high coefficient friction top surfaces of the base plate or floor pan to reduce the impact peak by extending the stopping distance and the pulse duration.
It is another object of the invention to provide a multi-function vehicle seat including an absorbing energy movable base plate encapsulated within a cover to dissipate crash energy and reduce the transfer of the acceleration-deceleration forces to the seat assembly and occupant.
It is another object of the invention to provide a multi-function vehicle seat including a support structure configured as a pyramid open on its rear side to form a niche beneath the seat cushion and seat frame with upper and lower arms shaped as concave to form a niche behind a seat back cushion to offer occupant safest position before and during collision.
It is another object of the invention to provide a multi-function vehicle seat including a pulley strap attached to a tightening device and to the bottom of the seat cushion and the rear of the seat back cushion and the rear of the headrest to balance their motion with occupant kinematics.
It is another object of the invention to provide a multi-function vehicle seat including an actuator disposed on the upper arm of the seat frame to connect a strap attached to the headrest to pull a changeable region of the headrest into an unobstructed volume formed behind the headrest.
Another object of the invention is to provide a multi-function vehicle seat including electronically operated stretching energy belts to control the position of the seat frame to hold the occupant in the desired position in the event of an accident or extreme driving condition.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which are dependable, flexible in movement, and fully effective in accomplishing their intended purposes.